Kundrat

October 31, 2001

a danger

to herself

By Peter Comings

GAYLORD - Robert J. Carey, attorney for Cynthia Louise Kundrat, has filed a motion with the 87th District Court to have the 38-year-old manslaughter suspect ordered into a mental health facility. The Kalkaska-based attorney was in Reed City for a trial could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but according to his motion filed Oct. 26, Kundrat poses a consistent risk for suicide.

A Nov. 15, 1:15 p.m. hearing has been scheduled in the matter.

Kundrat remains held without bond in the Otsego County Jail waiting to appear in District Court Nov. 29 for her competency hearing in a case in which she has been charged with two counts of manslaughter. The two counts of manslaughter and six lesser charges stem from a July 29 incident at the Old Depot in Johannesburg which left Teagan Ferlaak, 4, and Margaret "Peggy" Koronka, 29, dead as a result of their injuries.

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"She does not belong in jail," said Otsego County Sheriff James McBride, noting his officers have interrupted several suicide attempts during Kundrat's three-month stay in the county jail. "She refuses to take her medication and we can't force her. She needs to get straightened out so she can stand trial."

McBride later produced two letters from Kundrat's attending psychiatrist recommending "the highest level of suicide watch." She also receives regular visits from Community Mental Health personnel.

According to her attorney's motion and McBride, Kundrat has tried to hang herself with her clothing, drunk the contents of two ballpoint pens and attempted to drink toilet bowl cleaner. McBride confirmed his officers have been forced to shackle Kundrat briefly to restrain her. Her cell, Tuesday morning, appeared stark as she slept on the floor under a blanket. The cell is directly across a narrow hallway from an observation room from which deputies can monitor her actions.

"We only shackle her for half-an-hour, 45 minutes, maybe an hour," said McBride. "But we check on her every 15 minutes."

Kundrat had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 4, a hearing which was postponed until the court received the results of a psychiatric evaluation performed in Traverse City Aug. 31. Judge Patricia Morse entered a not-guilty plea on Kundrat's behalf at her Aug. 2 arraignment.

A competency hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 29, based on the results of the psychiatric evaluation.

Each of the two manslaughter counts the Johannesburg woman faces carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Kundrat is represented by Carey, who is court-appointed. She faces six other charges, including one for malicious destruction of a building over $1,000 but less than $20,000 for which she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and five counts of felonious driving, two-year felonies, for injuries caused to John, Brock and Wyndham Ferlaak and Ronald and Brittany Koronka.